Yo dudes! Wasson? I have planned this out. Be proud of me! I did it while watching Interview With The Vampire. Omfg. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt getting together…
Will probably have even more ideas soon. I'm having my two best friends over and we're watching horror movies. None of which I've seen, but they've seen all of them. So I'll just be jumping.
James watched the sleeping figure with a frown on his face. Remus J Lupin. The one mystery within the Marauders. More layers than an onion. They'd cut down some of his defences back in school, but no one had ever known what went on behind his enigmatic amber eyes.
He'd vanished. Just gone, one day, without any word to anyone. Not even Remus' sister had heard from him. Sirius had known something about his reasons, avoiding the questions when asked so skilfully that only James had seen something wrong. It wasn't too much of a surprise that it would be Sirius to know. He'd always been closer to Remus. Some kind of canine bond.
James crossed his legs and shuffled impatiently. He'd never been able to wait for anything. Especially not when it involved answers to questions. Questions that had been going round his head for five years. Why had Remus gone. Where he'd been. Why he'd never felt the need to tell anyone where the hell he was.
He looked older now, that was for sure. The golden hair spread across the white pillow had lots more grey hairs, and his pale skin was more lined. His bare arms were placed across the top of the duvet, Remus' body completely straight. He'd never lose control, not even in sleep. That was how he established independence from the wolf. There were more scars on those arms. Some had faded to thin white lines, and others were completely raw. Hardly surprising, really. He would've been through- James made a swift mental calculation- about sixty full moons without any help from Animagi. Must have pulled himself apart.
But one scar, just visible above the sheet, seemed to be too deliberate. It was too straight to be the works of fangs or claws-
"Are you going to sit and watch me all day?"
He jumped at the voice. It was oh so familiar, and yet a distant memory. It had been so long. Remus' eyes fluttered open, and amber stared at brown. "It's a Sunday. My day off. Harry's in his room playing, I just woke him up, and Lily's in the kitchen. I thought I'd come and see my old best friend."
Remus winced, the sarcasm in the statement evident to his ears. "James-"
"Lily said you wouldn't answer any of her questions."
"Not true. When asked, I told her I was hungry."
James glared over the top of his glasses. "Remus."
The werewolf sat up, pulling the sheet with him to protect his torso from prying eyes. "You know, you sound scarily like McGonagall when you do that."
"Piss off." James leant forward, placing a hand on Remus' arm. "Please, Remus. We need answers."
"And you'll get them." Remus smiled. James thought the expression looked strange on his face, almost as though he'd forgotten how to do it. "But for now, could I borrow some clothes? Mine are all ripped and dirty."
For one moment James stared into his eyes. When they were younger, Remus would always bottle things up until the last possible moment. Apparently he hadn't changed. "Borrow some money, and you can buy some of your own."
"No. I don't need charity, James, just something to preserve my dignity."
"Yeah. Listen, door down on your right, in the oak cabinet. Nick whatever you want."
Remus smiled again, and James was suddenly reminded of an angel. Strange that. Remus was the angel, sweetness and goodness, and Sirius a fallen angel, decadently enticing. "Thanks."
James stood and left the room. He ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Lily turned slightly from where she had her hands in the sink, and smiled. "Shh. You'll wake Remus up."
"Oh, he's already awake." He moved through the room, stopping at the table and picking up a letter. His eyes scanned over it quickly, before he discarded it again.
"What about Harry?"
"Yeah. He's playing with his toys. Something about the 'Great Green Arkleseizure.' I dunno." He stepped forward until he could wrap his arms around her torso.
She ignored the gesture, scrubbing hard at a stain on a plate. "I blame you and Sirius for that."
"You blame us for everything."
"That's because it's your fault." She dumped it on the side to drain. "Did you… speak to him?"
James let his head flop down onto her shoulder. "Remus?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, I did." He sighed, hot breath running onto her skin. "He won't tell me what happened."
"I'm not particularly surprised. He's only just woken up for starters, and he always was a secretive git."
He nuzzled her neck. "Hmm, naughty word. Not meant to swear inside the house."
"It's never stopped you or Sirius before."
"That's beside the point." He chuckled softly. "Lils, what're we gonna do with him?"
"With who? Harry, we're sending to Hogwarts as soon as possible. Sirius, I think we ought to have neutered."
"Remus."
She relaxed into the embrace, letting her hands drift in the soapy water. "After he went to bed last night I flooed Dumbledore. He says he has a job which'll be perfect for him, but it'll take a couple of weeks to organise. Until then, I guess we'll lend him some of your clothes."
"Already done. He won't take money. Proud bastard."
She smacked him with the wet cloth. "No swearing. Anyway, Remus'll be ok. Trust me."
James laughed. "Oh, I do." He spun her around in his arms and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. Then, supporting her arms, he lifted her and spun her in the air, ignoring her shrieks. "And I respect you. And obey you. And love you." Each word was punctuated with swift pecks to her cheeks and necks.
"Jay-"
"Ew, kissy stuff." They broke apart slightly, turning to see their son stood in the doorway with a disgusted look on his face.
Lily whooped, and jumped from the table. "Don't you like all the kissy stuff, Harry boy?"
"Nah." He stuck out his tongue. "Girls smell."
Lily's eyes flashed, and she chased after her son. He ran into the living room, not getting too far before she picked him up and swung him onto the sofa. Kisses were placed all over his face, ignoring his squeals of protest. "When- you're- older- you'll- want- lots- of- kisses."
He giggled. "No I won't!"
James bounded in and sat on them, squashing them comfortably. "My Harry's gonna be too busy playing Quidditch to have a girlfriend."
"Yeah." Harry stuck his tongue out at his mother.
James sat up, pulling the other two with him. He knew he had to tell Harry about Remus, but 'oh Harry there's a werewolf in the spare room' was probably not the way to go. "Listen mate, I've got to tell you something."
The boy scrambled into his father's lap. "What?"
"We've got someone staying with us."
"Who?"
"Well, you know me and Sirius tell you stories about when we were at school?"
Harry nodded, green eyes serious behind glass. "But not everything."
"Um, yeah." James shot a guilty look at Lily. "That's because Mummy doesn't want you getting any ideas. Anyway, d'you remember us saying about Moony?"
"He was your next best friend, next to Siri. But then he went away."
"Well, he's back now. But you've got to be nice to him, and don't ask him about where he's been. Coz I want to find out first."
Lily hit on the head, eliciting a startled 'ow'. "You know as well as I do that Sirius is more likely to get something out of him."
"When's he coming over?"
Harry bounced excitedly. "This morning. He said he'd take me for éclairs on his bike."
Lily frowned. "I'm not sure that's a good thing…"
James reached over, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Listen, Lils, we just delay Sirius downstairs until Remus comes down. Then they see each other and get to talking. It'll all work out peachy."
---
Remus walked into the living room, and the boy sat on the floor barely spared him a glance. Toys were scattered around him, both magical and Muggle. All were ignored however for the pencil clutched in the little hand and the paper in front.
"Hello Harry."
"Hello." He stopped drawing, and turned serious green eyes on Remus' face. "Who're you?"
"Remus. When you were little, you used to call me Moony."
"Oh, you're Moony. Daddy said you were here. You're in the pictures with Daddy and Siri and Wormy." Harry turned back to the childish scrawls.
Remus blushed despite himself. Trust the child to be the one to bring out these feelings in him, remembering the past. When Harry had learnt to talk, Sirius was the only one to retain his proper name. It was too much to expect a toddler to say 'Padfoot' or 'Padders', and so Remus had taught Harry to call him Siri. Sirius would permit it only from his godson and the werewolf.
Remus shook his head, clearing the clouds from the past that came to fog his brain. "What're you drawing?" he said, sitting next to Harry.
Harry pointed. "That's me. I'm playing Quidditch."
"Who for?"
A beam split the child's face. "Wigtown Wanderers."
Remus leant over. It was a typical child's drawing, all stick men and bright colours. It made Remus feel almost sentimental, with what he'd missed of Harry's childhood. "I always preferred the Kenmare Kestrels."
"Siri says the Kestrels are a load of poofs who couldn't win a match if they were the only ones on the pitch."
And wasn't that just a Sirius thing to say? "Siri can be stupid."
"Yup." Harry turned his head, looking Remus up and down. "You're in your pyjamas."
"I know. I need your dad to tell me what clothes I can probably fit into. Have you seen him?"
Harry made a face. "Yeah. He's in the kitchen, probably kissing Mummy. Yucky stuff."
"I agree." Remus stood, patting the boy on the head. "Kissing girls is yucky."
This is me trying to remember my cousin when he was 6. That was five years ago, and I was 11 at the time. I don't know any 6 year olds! But ahem. I promise twill be slash, but I'm trying to do a slow burning one. With a mystery… probably won't work. But ah well!
Oh yes, and Remus is gay but only Sirius knows it. This will become important later.
